Climate Smart Yak Farming in Gilgit-Baltistan

Climate Smart Yak Farming in Gilgit-Baltistan

Author: Maaz Maqsood Hashmi

Gilgit- Baltistan lies in the northern high altitudes of Pakistan where out of 72,500 km², only 2% is cultivated land with larger livelihood dependency on 52% rangeland/alpine pastures as key source of livestock (yak) grazing and household energy. The local communities, although subsistence based, largely depend on integrated farming of livestock and agriculture since centuries. The climate change impact is now becoming visible through drastic shifts from traditional cropping patterns to cash crops like potato production and adaptation by outmigration for employment. Yak is a multipurpose but neglected livelihood animal with a comparative advantage in mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan where milk and meat products are major subsistence source of marginalized communities. Outmigration of youth in particular is an emerging concern for sustainable mountain farming systems. RRA survey was conducted in 2014 to assess the visibility of climate change and adaptive capacity of local pastoral communities in yak ecosystems. The findings of the survey showed that yak production is under change stress and becoming threatened because of inbreeding, limiting access to alpine pastures due to glacier anomaly and lack of work force. The local yak gene pool is now going through a genetic shift possibly in response to climate change as the number of F₁ yak cattle hybrids (Zo/zomo) is changing at lower altitudes. In view of these findings, climate smart farming integration to sustaining pastoral livelihoods is being proposed particularly for yak producers. It highlights the need for yak conservation and breed improvement through transboundary collaboration. Yak based livelihoods require strengthening in terms of introducing innovative technologies and practices like cultivation of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), Russian olive (Elaegnus angustifolia) and market based value chain of yak products in yak ecosystems.